At 1,200 teslas, the generated field dwarfs almost any artificial magnetic field ever recorded; however, it's not the strongest overall. In 2001, physicists in Russia produced a field of 2,800 teslas, but their explosive method literally blew up their equipment and the uncontrollable field could not be tamed. Lasers can also create powerful magnetic fields, but in experiments they only last a matter of nanoseconds.

The magnetic field created by Takeyama's team lasts thousands of times longer, around 100 microseconds, about one-thousandth of the time it takes to blink. It's possible to create longer-lasting fields, but these are only in the region of hundreds of teslas.